Based on analysis of multiple outside rankings, Kuster is a more moderate left of center Democratic Party vote. As a result, she may break with the Democratic Party line more than her fellow members.

Biography

Kuster was born and raised in Concord, New Hampshire. She earned her bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College in 1978 and her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1984. She has served on the Board of Trustees of many community organizations, including the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, the Capitol Center for the Arts and Child and Family Services of New Hampshire. She is the founder of the Women's Fund of New Hampshire. In 2001, Kuster founded Newfound Strategies, LLC, a consulting and training practice that works with nonprofit clients to maximize their effectiveness and sustainability. [3]

Issues

Legislative actions

113th Congress

The second session of the 113th Congress enacted into law 114 out of the 3,036 introduced bills (3.8 percent). Comparatively, the 112th Congress had 4.2 percent of introduced bills enacted into law in the second session.[5] For more information pertaining to Kuster's voting record in the 113th Congress, please see the below sections.[6]

National security

National Defense Authorization Act

Kuster supported HR 1960 - the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014. The bill passed the House on June 14, 2013, with a vote of 315 - 108. Both parties were somewhat divided on the vote.[7]

Department of Homeland Security Appropriations

Lofgren supported HR 2217 - the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2014. The bill passed the House on June 6, 2013, with a vote of 245 - 182 and was largely along party lines.[7]

Keystone Pipeline Amendment

Kuster voted in favor of House Amendment 69, which would have amended HR 3 to "require that the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, in consultation with the Department of Homeland Security, conduct a study of the vulnerabilities of the Keystone XL pipeline to a terrorist attack and certify that necessary protections have been put in place." The amendment failed on May 22, 2013, with a vote of 176 - 239 and was largely along party lines.[7]

Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act

Kuster supported HR 624 - the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act. The bill passed the House on April 18, 2013, with a vote of 288 - 127. The bill would allow federal intelligence agencies to share cybersecurity intelligence and information with private entities and utilities.[8] The bill was largely supported by Republicans but divided the Democratic Party.[7]

Economy

Farm Bill

Kuster voted against the July 11, 2013 Farm Bill. The bill passed in a 216-208 vote.[9] The bill passed included farm policy, but did not include food stamps.[10]

King Amendment

Kuster signed a letter sent to Collin Peterson in August 2013, asking him to keep Steve King's amendment out of the final Farm Bill.[11] The "Protect Interstate Commerce Act" amendment prevents states from applying their own laws on agricultural products to agricultural products from another state.[12]. King introduced the amendment in response to a law in California, requiring a larger size cage for egg-producing chickens. King represents Iowa, which is a large egg producer.

Immigration

Morton Memos Enforcement Prohibition

Kuster voted against House Amendment 136 - Prohibits the Enforcement of the Immigration Executive Order. The amendment was adopted by the House on June 6, 2013, with a vote of 224 - 201. The purpose of the amendment as stated on the official text is to "prohibit the use of funds to finalize, implement, administer, or enforce the Morton Memos." These memos would have granted administrative amnesty to certain illegal aliens residing in the United States.[13] The vote largely followed party lines.[14]

Healthcare

Repealing Obamacare

Kuster has voted against all attempts to repeal or delay the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.[15]

Social issues

SNAP challenge

In June 2013, more than two dozen HouseDemocrats, including Kuster, took part in a SNAP challenge, feeding themselves for a week on the average benefit level of a SNAP recipient.[16] Participants agreed to eat all meals from a limited food budget comparable to that of a SNAP participant, approximately $1.50 per meal, or $4.50 a day.[17]

Abortion

Kuster voted against HR 1797 - Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. The resolution passed the House on June 18, 2013, with a vote of 228 - 196. The purpose of the bill is to ban abortions that would take place 20 or more weeks after fertilization.[18]

On September 26, one of Bass' staffers took a video of Kuster in which the staffer pesters Kuster until she takes the camera from him and refuses to return it. She returned the camera moments later, and the video was published by the conservative NH Journal on September 27.[21] She responded by accusing Bass, and Republicans in general, of "political bullying".[22]

Kuster used the video in an email-based fundraising campaign. This campaign is responsible for a substantial part of the $265,000 the campaign raised in the last week of September, capping off the $720,000 Kuster raised in this year's third quarter.[23]

Campaign donors

Comprehensive donor information for Kuster is available dating back to 2012. Based on available campaign finance records, Kuster raised a total of $3,161,004 during that time period. This information was last updated on April 18, 2013.[25]

Lifetime voting record

According to the website GovTrack, Kuster missed 0 of 92 roll call votes from January 2013 to April 2013. This amounts to 0%, which is better than the median of 2.2% among current congressional representatives as of March 2013.[33]

Net worth

2011

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org, Kuster's net worth as of 2011 was estimated between $1,439,717 to $2,110,710. That averages to $1,775,213, which is lower than the average net worth of Democratic House members in 2011 of $5,107,874.[34]

Personal

Kuster wrote a book with her mother, State Senator Susan McLane. The book was called The Last Dance: Facing Alzheimer’s with Love and Laughter.[35]

Recent news

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